Philips SHP9600 Review - Refining a classic budget open-back headphone 

thinking of buying them rn

I just got them yesterday, and I absolutely love them! Would highly recommend.

@@Bransomware sweet, I ended up purchasing them yesterday and they’ll be here this Friday, cant wait 👍

Lemme guess, you're from Australia?

@@edeboy Singapore

I'd snap them up immediately for anywhere near that price, but right now they're £105 in the UK... and that sucks balls :(

@@Dubufy you definitely should if you prefer open back. However they're not by any stretch of means a bassy headphones. The review might say it's bassier than SHP9500, but I never listened to it so this is based on my experience with normal closed back headphones like Sony XM3. If you want a bassy headphone but not bloated like XM3, at around the same price, I recommend Moon drop Aria. It's an IEM tho.

@@Dubufy you can also get 50% off Sennheiser HD560S right now during black Friday sales too lol even more choice for you

How are these with a gaming console? I mean connected to a controller

foam from inside the cups??

explain what did you cut xactly

I removed the earcups and cut the fabric which is very thick leaving it open and put it back, the driver is protect so no problem.

good for gaming

If you want an upgrade, get the hifiman he400i 2020

X2 best for imaging and separation, 95 best for soundstage. All the headphones are tuned differently and whether you like them or not depends on your own taste. 96 probably fits you best, it’s a great all-around option. If you are in US you can get a pair open box for less than $50, I just did and they are def worth it.

@@i.Gnarly i got the Sennheisers HD 560S for 110 bucks and i think they blow the philips out of the water ;)

I would avoid both. Just get something like the DT880

@@exol511 Which version of the DT880? The 32ohms? Yeah they're easy to drive like the Philips is but really aren't that great at all. The 250ohms? Still meh... and hard to drive. Or the 600ohms? Seriously hard to drive, they don't shine on most cheap headphone amps as they'd still underpower them. And yes, the 600ohm DT880 are awesome, but only when you can actually power them do they shine and make a big difference for the better versus the competition in the pricerange. Most folks opting for the SHP9600 don't have a dedicated headphone amp powerfull enough to drive this one. Thing to really avoid here should be your advice imho.

​ @RafiGish you slamming the DT880 (which is literally the best beyer has) in comparison to Philips (which never made a good headphone) makes think that you must have little experience with headphones. The 250ohm version will be powered just fine with something like the US Apple USB C dongle (even better Meizu dong), which at 3.6mW at 300Ohm will be more than enough to get the 250ohm DT880 to an acceptable volume. Same goes for most decent phones which still feature a 3.5mm connector like the Galaxy S9. Lets also dispel the fact that you do not require a speaker amp to get the DT880 600Ohm to perform well if you found the Zeos meme video. A Magni 3+ will be more than adequate to get it to perform well enough for most users (anymore investment in source gear and you might as well get a better headphone). Have you actually tried any of the headphones mentioned or are you just reading off the internet? I personally have owned/demoed the DT880 32/250/600ohm as well as the X2HR and SHP9500 (just to see what the fuss was about). The DT880 make a mockery of the philips even at the lowest resolution model (32ohm). As the 9600 still features the same driver I very much doubt its resolution is in anyway improved, especially after you add the fact that the bass bloat is now drowning out the low res treble. The DT880 is actually a valid recommendation to anyone who ever considered the old SHP9500 as it just does everything better.

@@exol511 hell no, id stick with x2hrs for dayssss

@@exol511 dt880 is the best beyer has? So beyer dt1770, Dt1990, t1 and t5 don't exist?

I have the SHP9600 and after a few weeks of use, I have no complains regarding my facial hair. I have a full beard and sideburns and they feel fantastic. The clamping force is light, but firm enough to press down the facial hair rather than cling and pull.

ikr, they're like 5dB rolled off at 20Hz, which is nothing.

Bass rolloff on the HD58X starts around 60-70hz - at least this is how it measures on standardized rigs. It is fairly gradual, so it's not like it's totally gone until you get down to like 30hz and below where you see a -5dB delta from typical targets, but the main difference is the contrast between the sub-bass and the bump in the upper bass above 100hz.

The HEADPHONE Show Sub bass is still there even if it isn’t as boosted as mid bass though, unlike the other sennheisers and the shp9500 for example, who just have none of it... Maybe I just don’t know how to read graphs but even Drop’s own make it seem pretty well extended, you sure you didn’t get the protoype model?

@@ragecandy for what, a 58x? Check Oratory's graph for it if he has one. Otherwise, even RTINGs shows the sub-bass roll off. It helps to have a sine wave generator to test this stuff as well. Try that out to get a sense of where various frequencies are.

Here's a tip : Look for sensitivity level in the specs of the headphone you're interested in. Usually most headphones will range around 80-120 dB/mW. 100 dB/mW and above don't require an external amp as it's very efficient. 99 dB/mW and below will require an external amp.

yes!

SHP9600

oh yeah 9600 for sure, superlux are no contender imo

Who's asking for a $140 vs $399 comparison?

@@eezeepee 220 vs 350 yeah, and the 650 is said to scale much more, and both are said to be great values

650 is 400 dollars

Get 650 ,660s, LCD2C ...

Get Audioquest Nighthawk

Yes. No, you can't change the pads but you don't really need to.

@@dannybos7024 if I wanna soft leather so this not suit me. I fan a leather earcup.

@@gamingvibes4u You mean earpad, not earcup. But if you want leather, you're out of luck, since there aren't many open backs with leather pads.

@@dannybos7024 thanks, now I know. I suppose not go open back headphones

@@gamingvibes4u Why not? Open backs sound way better than closed backs majority of the time. But if you really wnat closed, go for the K361.

I'm not

Where are they reselling ion wanna pay full price

Would make sense if the 58x was 100-120$. Drop price is just not worth it, when you can easily get a used HD600/650/6xx instead and generally in decent shape at those price points.

@@exol511 The main advantage the 58X has over 6XX is that it is far easier to drive and doesn't require an amp.

sure, but there are places in the world that makes both 58x and 9500 worth it in their own price ranges.

I was only impressed by the imaging on the 58x. Separation is crap.

G P really?

@@hukama6911 yes, and for those in that kind of place, 9500 is a nice entry level headphone

@@hukama6911 Yep, where I live, SHP9500 is the best headphone that is not extremely expensive, for comparison, a hd58x costs 3 times more than the 9500 ou 9600 so, here this headphones are the best bang for your buck.

I see you like more industrial look

@@hukama6911 Without a doubt. These look incredibly generic, and don't stand out from what is out there by countless other brands. They look like they could be made by some off-brand only sold on Amazon.

@@aznablerey398 my guess would be that philips thought having a cleaner look would appeal to more people, I don't think they're wrong. But I think it looks boring.

Yeah but it sounds better.

I’ve owned both. Bass is slightly better on the 9600, soundstage is better on the 9500. I don’t think one sounds better than the other, they each falter in different ways.